


Compromise

by wallflowergarden



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: 1920's, ?? maybe, AU, Detective AU, Drama, F/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-02-19 06:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2379074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallflowergarden/pseuds/wallflowergarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 1926. Makoto Naegi is working at a detective agency with his old fellow classmates, including his best friend Chihiro Fujisaki, his enemy (and now boss) Byakuya Togami, and a girl named Kyouko Kirigiri. When a case about a certain gang named Monotone is brought up, run by the one and only Junko Enoshima, Togami assigns the four main detectives to investigate. It quickly gets out of hand, with Kirigiri almost murdered. This causes Naegi and Kirigiri to team up and investigate together, but things only get more insane from there.</p><p>Old relationships, bitter memories, and a whole lot of romance—our tortured protagonist goes through it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! Thanks for reading my fic! you're shsl awesome. I'll try to update this every month?? It's hard to write, and I've got writer's block right now. BUT nonetheless, I try.
> 
> Enjoy!

A normal case is a homicide. A normal case is a robbery. A normal case is anything but this. When we took this case, it was normal, like the rest. The description was simple and easy to understand. Our boss didn't say anything beside the usual script. We don't fear much, she and I. But to be caught in this situation was something beyond our wildest nightmares. Our forces were weakened. They had gained the upper hand.

  
She looks over at me. I can feel the pressure in my own eyes. This is my last breath. My remaining seconds. There are so many things I never got to do. Or experience. Or see. Or feel. Or say... I don't think I have much of an option. My last words have been decided. Through the maniacal laughter, I yell...

* * *

There is a note on my desk as I walk in. It's a common occurrence. I always receive a piece of beige paper whenever the boss wants me to work on a new case. These little notes are what pay my bills.

  
Togami Investigation Services has been place of employment since I've graduated high school. A fellow classmate, who I honestly wasn't quite fond of, currently runs my sector. Part of his job was to recruit new members; he even held this responsibility in his teenage years. I was one of those new members, along with three other classmates of mine. I assume he judged them mostly of their skill. Our school was a collection of teenagers who all exceeded in one certain skill. I was personally assigned with 'Super High School Level Luck,' and to how that is a talent, I do not know. He also recruited the Hacker, due to her extensive abilities and sly skills, the Gambler, considering her cunning strength, and of course, the Detective, which is pretty self explanatory. I never really associated myself with the Gambler or Detective, but I'm rather good friends with the Hacker. I knew that our friendship was true when I was told her darkest secret. _She_ is legally a _he_ , but I revere her enough to treat her as she pleases. Though my relationships with the girls were so, we all worked together with equal respect.

  
Everything was strictly professional.

  
That was the first rule to working at Togami Investigation Services. It was heavily discussed at the meeting held on our first day. 'Any instance where the relationship amongst two individuals is beyond friendship, both will be renounced immediately,' was what the rule said. I don't intend on a work romance, so that shouldn't be an issue to me. Togami reminded us constantly over our first few weeks. There must be some backstory to why he feels so passionately about the regulation. But I'm not in a position to ask. Byakuya Togami and I are anything less than acquaintances. It's not because of any event in particular. We just bicker occasionally. Nothing worthy of starting a rivalry, but enough to make us distant.

  
The notice told me to meet in the standard conference room. I set my bag down, remove my coat, then proceed in an orderly fashion. As I had assumed, the other three girls are already sitting in the chairs that line the lengthy table. Togami stands at the front of the room, giving me his signature bitter glare. I saw it first during my freshman year of high school and I still get blessed with it two years after graduation.

  
"You're late," he hisses at me whilst I take a seat near Miss Hacker. " _Again_ , might I add."

  
"I get busy with things, Togami. But it's okay if you don't understand, considering you do nothing other than boss people around," I fire back. My eyes notice Chihiro fiddling with her hands awkwardly.

  
"I'll have you know, _Naegi,_ that I work very hard at what I do. I take my job seriously, as opposed to you."

  
"Look, you don't–"

  
"Let's save the arguing for another time, boys. You're both just making fools of yourselves," Celeste intervenes with a chuckle, obviously angered with us. The eerie thing about Celestia Ludenberg is that her emotions are reversed. A scowl is replaced with a smile. Yelling turns into laughter. This makes it difficult to work with her. We agree with silence before Togami clears his throat.

  
"I've gathered you all here to discuss another case." The four of us shift focus to the speaker. "Our information teams have recently collected details on a dangerous gang. They're the ones responsible for the recent crimes that have been happening all over the city." Togami opens up the file on the table, tossing pictures and documents in front of us. "They call themselves... Monotone. They run around painting their slogan onto walls of dark alleys and windows of abandoned buildings." Proof of this is in the file. "And that slogan is–"

  
"If you feel on your own, then speak in monotone..." I read aloud, cutting off Togami. This sort of bothers him, yet he continues.

  
"They use it to gain new members. We don't know exactly how, though."

  
"Well, isn't that helpful..." Celeste chimes in with sarcasm.

  
"Why Monotone? What is that suppose to mean? Is it some kind of acronym?" Chihiro speaks quietly. Her habit of talking in a low voice is something we're all accustomed with. I look over at Kirigiri who is carefully examining each piece of paper. I don't know her very well, but I always love to watch her delve deep into a new case. Give a detective a new job and of course they'll have a field day. I gaze at her for a moment as she sorts through everything, then stop myself before Togami gets the wrong idea. Interest shouldn't get me fired.

  
"Bring me a phone," Kirigiri says as a response to Chihiro's question.

  
"A phone?" I ask. She looks up at me, eyes as piercing and usual. "Why do you need a phone?"

  
"Naegi, this may be hard for your small brain to comprehend, but she's the lead detective. I think she knows what she's doing. So we get her a phone." And there's Togami with his inspiring words of motivation. We scowl at one another until he goes to get Kirigiri her phone. A long cord connects it to a wall. She drags the wheel around, dialing the three numbers of the local area code, which ends in a 6, then 666-8663–Monotone.

  
"I love the irony with the first three digits..." Celeste rings the words, personally scaring me to the bone. Kirigiri puts the phone to her ear and waits. Seconds later, we can hear a voice–A female with a high pitch–talk to Kirigiri.

  
"... My answer is no... You have ears. I said no. I was attempting to dial someone else, but it seems I made a mistake. I apologize... Okay, I won't... Goodbye," and she hangs up, speaking directly to us. "My suspicion was correct. That is the number to their society. A woman asked me if I wanted to join. Of course, I denied, and she asked if I was sure. I made up a lie, she told me not to tell anyone, and I lied again."  
She never seizes to amaze me.

  
"Bravo, Miss Kirigiri. Bravo," Celeste smiles.

  
"Impressive as always," Togami adds on, smiling himself, which is extremely rare.

  
"They aren't kidding, Kirigiri," I decide to tack on my own words.

  
"Come on, guys. This isn't anything out of the ordinary..." she says modestly, but I can detect a bit of pink tint on her face. I don't think I've ever seen her blush before... "In any case, we now have that piece of information. That will surely be helpful."

* * *

I put the phone down and groan.

  
"If people are smart enough to realize that our number is our name but don't wanna join, then why bother calling?" My sister looks up at me. She's currently involved in a poker game with a few other members. "I mean, the girl said that it was a misdial, but I'm not an idiot." She throws a heavy amount of her chips into the pile.

  
"It could've been the police, Junko. They've been on our tail lately," she replies.

  
"The police are so boring. I hate them," I sigh, rolling around in my throne. Mukuro has told me multiple times not to call it that, but I'm better than her, so I don't care. The members of gang run around the building, hanging out, drinking, sharing drugs. The usual. "Now I'm bored. _Ugh!"_ I jump out of my seat and look around the room. "Quick. Someone amuse me," I order.

  
"How can we amuse you, Miss Enoshima?" The voice of a girl who doesn't know her place speaks.

  
"Like I would know! And I know you're new, but never call me by my name."

  
"Don't worry, Sonia," Ibuki mutters, trying to comfort the newbie. "I made that mistake on my first day, too." Sonia smiles at her.

  
"Uh, hello?! I'm _still_ bored here!" I remind them. Saionji speaks up.

  
"Stop forcing us to entertain you all the time, you ugly trash! Find your own source of amusement!" Everyone in the room quiets down. I'm used to Saionji talking rudely to me, but that doesn't mean I will tolerate it. She stands bold as I approach her. Then I smack the bitch, push her over, and kick her when she's down.

  
"You better watch your fucking mouth, whore! I _own_ you! I can ruin your life with the snap of my fingers, and don't think I won't!" I scream, with my shoe imprinting her back. She starts to cry and forces an apology. "Whatever." I take my foot away and she stands up, her face getting gradually more bloody. There's laughter coming from the back of crowd.

  
"Wow, Leader! You sure are strong!" I turn his way as he makes himself visible. "I'm still surprised that someone as amazing as you let worthless garbage like me in your gang." Ah, there's nothing I love more than receiving a compliment at the price of someone's self esteem.

  
"And that's why you're my favorite, Komaeda." The little psycho's face lights up as I say these words.

  
"Aw, Sis, I'm sort of offended," Mukuro chimes in comically.

  
"You're special, baby, and you know it," I joke back. "And by the way, you still have to call me leader even though you're my sister. It would be unfair and awkward for everyone else."

  
“Not really…” comes Kuzuryuu’s voice. “We don’t really care…”

  
“How about you shut your mouth?” I walk up to him with both hands on my hips. “You’ve got no right to speak to me like that. Why, you were so bad at what you did, you had to quit and come running to us.” He gives me an angry glare, clenching his fists. “We accepted you with open arms, so at least give us some respect.”

  
“What the hell are _you_ talking about? I was the best! In school, my skill was being a gangster, and you know that!” I look to the left and cross arms.

  
“Oi… Why should I care about your Super High School Level?” Everyone in the gang have graduated Hope’s Peak at some point, so they all understand what we’re talking about. “You’re weak!” I shove him as I yell. “You were the best in the game. You were the king. Yet… You fell from the castle… Why?”

  
“... Peko stills works for me. One word is enough to destroy you,” he speaks cautiously.

  
“Oh! A death threat! How despairing!” I spin around on the tips of my toes, disfiguring my long pink hair. A good amount of time was spent rolling up my hair last night, but it’s okay. The effect of messy hair is even better. I notice Komaeda smiling at me in my peripheral vision. He’s a doll. A psychopathic doll, but one none the less. “Death threats can go both ways, you know.”

  
“Huh…?

  
“You heard me. Don’t you get it?” My face goes blank. “Send you stupid tool over to me with dirty intentions and we’ll… punish her ourselves.” The smirk I give him is one that is not returned. “Aw, don’t look so glum. Just know your place on the food chain.” I wink at him and return back upon my stage.

  
“The point remains! I’m still _bored~!”_ The seven members gather around. Mukuro joins me. It seems like something exciting is about to happen! I can’t wait! “We need to do something, and quick. Give me ideas, go!”

  
“Maybe we could hold up a corner store?” Leon suggests.

  
“No!”

  
“I heard the bank down the street has low security…” Mondo mentions.

  
“Hm… No! Next!”

  
“There are some people who I personally don’t want to exist anymore,” Ibuki trails off.

  
“... I like it.” Mukuro grins along with me, following me down to speak directly to Ibuki. “Give me a name.”

  
“Okay… His name is…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are some errors in this chapter ansnndmsmg my fault. ignore it prease.

The next day, I walk to work. My hat nearly flies off in the wind. My briefcase swings against my leg. I stick close to the line of stores to avoid the cars driving by. A few acquaintances give me quick greetings. I near my work building and walk toward the entrance. All is well. It’s just a normal day.

“Hello, Makoto.”

A large gust of wind blows by. The voice is all too familiar. Carefully, I turn around. There I see a girl in a beauteous dress, sitting alone on the bench, holding a parasol over her head. “It’s nice to see you again.” Her eyes are shut and she’s smiling. I struggle to believe it’s actually her. Slowly, my feet bring me toward her.

“Maizono? Is that you?” I know it’s her. I just don’t want it to be.

“Of course it is. Everyone knows who I am. You of all people should know me best.” Getting a closer look at her face, I see that she had cut her blue hair very short. It fits modern fashion now, I suppose.

“What are you doing here?” She stands up. Even with those high heels, she’s somewhat shorter than me.

“I came to see you. Why else?” I am unaware of how to reply. Looking into her deep blue eyes, my mind start to race with old memories. I think back to high school. When we first met. I remember things she told me. I remember her Super High School Level. Her secrets. Her flaws. The mistakes she made. I made. _We_ made. I wish I was anywhere but here right now.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Maizono. And I'm busy with a case right now, so I have to go." I turn away and walk back to work.

"Really Makoto?" She stops me with her words. I remain facing away from her. "Two years later, and you can't even have a simple conversation with me?" I don't say anything. "Hah. I thought you wouldn't have changed. I thought you'd be same old Makoto. But... You're not. I feel like I'm talking to a stranger." With a bit of anger in me, I spin around to look at her.

"Did you forget everything that happened in high school? All of the shit you put me through? How you practically ruined me? Does any of this ring a bell to you?" She looks startled. Perhaps I frightened her from yelling all a sudden.

"I told you I'm sorry countless times!" She responds loudly, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it. I'm leaving now, and don't talk to me again." I head back to work.

"Makoto, I–" I turn around one more time.

"And stop calling me that like we're friends." Then I leave her there with a pathetic look on her face. I'm already done with the day and it just started.

* * *

"Man brutally murdered by being baked alive." Togami reads the headline of the news to us, Chihiro letting out a gasp. "The murder was last night and took place in his own restaurant after closing. He was an underclassman of ours. Teruteru Hanamura." An odd silence fills the room. We all knew him. He was a bit of a pervert, quite honestly. I wasn't too fond of him, but I still don't think he deserved to die. "I went to investigate the scene, and guess what I found."

"Something related to Monotone, I'm assuming?" Kirigiri's calm voice asks.

"Precisely. Painted with Hanamura's blood was 'If you feel on your own, then speak in monotone.'"

"They obviously don't care to be anonymous," I state.

"And they don't do a very clean job. I found a few footprints and fingerprints on the scene, along some hair strands as well."

"Have you been able to recognize any of the culprits?" Celeste questions softly.

"I think so... Do you guys remember Junko Enoshima?"

The thought quickly sets in. The four of us are all equally stunned. Junko was a very popular girl back in school. She often was out of line, now that I think about it. She was always talking back to teachers, starting fights in the hallways, making up gossip at lunch. She tried to talk to me a few times, but our conversations didn't really go anywhere. We had to work on an assignment together once. I did most of the work while she sat there, talking my ears off as she filed her nails. I think she wrote one sentence. With highly incorrect grammar. She seemed like your ordinary delinquent. But I never thought she'd run a damn gang.

"From what I remember of her, I think she and her sister may be running Monotone."

"Mukuro..." I mumble under my breathe. Everyone in the room don't have to hear me. They all know, looking at me with pitiful eyes. I don't think this day could get any worse. "How can you be sure?"

"I'm not," Togami says, almost if to comfort me. "It's just a guess. They were latched at the hip in school, so it would make sense for them to work together." I look down at my hands.

"... Naegi." Kirigiri grabs my attention. "I know you're not necessarily happy with the idea, but we have to consider every possibility. We can't leave any theory behind."

"I know..." I can't let personal matters infer with business. I'm aware of that. It's difficult to bottle up things like that. But I don't have a choice.

"I-In any case, I think we should go down to the scene to investigate more," Chihiro stutters in an attempt to break the quiet. I appreciate the gesture. I need to refocus on the matter at hand. We all agree and soon exit the building and head toward the crime scene. Unfortunately, Maizono is still on the bench. Kirigiri and her make eye contact, completely startling them both. She's stops in her place to stare at Maizono in shock, but I grab her wrist and pull her away. We don't need anymore tension today. The singer watches us walk off, at a total loss. I don't look back. But Kirigiri does.

"Don't give her the time of day, Kirigiri," I whisper, causing her to look away. I've never seen her so unprofessional before. Ever. Seeing someone from her past really messed her up. She doesn't seem like she'll want to discuss this later, but I think I might bring it up. It would be best for her. Noticing that I’ve been holding her wrist this whole time, I awkwardly release it. It appears she didn’t really realize that I hadn’t let go. Despite not wanting tension, it grows between Kirigiri and I.

Togami gets us into the restaurant, despite it being closed off, and we take a look and the horrendous sight. Naturally, I’m used to this by now, but it still discomforts me. A few tables and chairs have been knocked over. Behind the counter is are a row of appliances. Including the oven. The door to the oven is wide open, Hanamura’s body pouring out of it. But he’s laying horizontally on it. None of his actual body is in the oven. There are blisters all over his skin, parts of him even charred. His head has been smashed, blood and brains splattered on the floor. It’s rather disgusting. On the row of cabinets against the wall have the infamous slogan on them, inked in red blood. He’s missing a hand. It seems to have been cut all around his wrist then ripped off.

“His hand is gone,” Togami says as I examine the body. “Monotone is known for taking ‘trophies’ from each of their victims.”

“That’s sick…” I respond, giving Hanamura one last lookover.

“They’re a twisted bunch,” Togami shrugs. Like usual, he’s way too casual about the murder. Celeste is looking at the aforementioned footprints, Chihiro is jotting down notes, and Kirigiri is looking at every little detail. I notice a burlap bag on the ground, loose wrapped with rope. What for? There’s a bullet lodged in the walls and in his right shoulder and left leg. Why did they have to shoot him if he was already in the oven? The oven dial is stained with blood. If the oven was turned on after Hanamura was inside it, then why is there blood? There’s a lot of unanswered questions. Togami collects everyone in the middle of the restaurant to review, asking us if we found out anything new.

“The footprints show that they had been running,” Celeste begins. “They must’ve been in a hurry.”

“I found a gun by one of the tables. It’s empty, though. But the fingerprints belong to Junko,” Chihiro continues, holding up the dusted gun and list of culprits with their fingerprints.

“There was hair by the murder scene,” adds Kirigiri, “It’s a deep purple color… Much like Mukuro’s.” My face falls. “It appears she was involved with this case.” I feel a lot of emotional pain right now. I thought Mukuro was better than this. I… I’m disappointed, at the least. Chihiro takes notice to my glum expression.

“Are you okay, Naegi...?” She asks quietly, trying not to call me out in front of the group. I nod lightly, hoping she takes the bait. But she isn’t easily tricked. She realizes my lie, but decides to wait until later. I guess she has the same plans for me that I have for Kirigiri.

“Did you guys find anything else?” It sounds weird when I speak. They briefly tell me things I already knew before Togami told us to return to our workplace to further discuss the crime. He said it wasn’t safe here. It wasn’t very pleasant either.

Thankfully this time when we return, Maizono is gone. She finally got the message that nobody here wants to talk to her. The others make a comment about it. It seems we weren’t the only ones who noticed her. They mentioned things from school, wonder questions, make statements. Fortunately, no one brings up her pasts with Kirigiri and I. They know better than to speak of things so personal to us, even though they aren’t necessarily secrets. We make our way up to the normal crime discussion room–which we call the Work Trial Room–on an elevator. It’s silent in this elevator. It’s been a long day already, and I have gotten enough emotional distress for the rest of my life. I just want to hurry up and get this Work Trial over with.

* * *

_the night before..._

 

After reviewing our procedure once more, we head out separately to our location. All of us together would seem too suspicious. It’s nearing ten o’clock at night; we’re barely visible dressed in black. I see the light glowing from the restaurant, our soon-to-be victim busy cleaning off his counter. It’s a shame that he spent so much time polishing the establishment when it’s going to become filthy tonight.

* * *

The elevator opens up and he walk to our separate stands. They’re aligned in a circle, with several empty spaces, considering all of Togami Investigation Services use this area for discussions. Togami himself designed this idea. It makes for a more efficient debate. Constantly throwing out ideas and having them denied with logical explanations. It helps everyone understand fully and solve the case with more speed. I’ll admit–I always thought this was strange thing to perform. But it does help a lot.

“So, let us begin.” We don’t begin the Trial until Togami speaks up. “Where shall we start?”

“I think we can easily agree that the tables and chair were disturbed from hiding," Kirigiri says strongly. Since we spoke of it briefly before, we nod in response. "I’d like to review the bullets that were found in the walls and Hanamura. Considering that he was murdered from being baked in that oven, then why is it that they would have to shoot at him?”

“Perhaps he was struggling,” Celeste suggests, “And they had to restrain him.”

“No, that’s wrong,” I respond, still not exactly sure of my thoughts.

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve got that wrong.”

“And how, exactly, is that wrong?”

If Hanamura had shown a struggle before they put him in the oven, then restraining him would make sense. But something still seems incorrect. There’s a vague memory that says so.

“Because… Well, one of the bullets was in the body, right? If they had shot him before placing him in the oven, the bullet wounds would’ve been fresh. If I recall correctly, there was no blood in the oven.”

“That’s true…” Chihiro agrees with me.

“Plus, the wounds would’ve been ‘baked’ more than the rest of him,” Kirigiri adds, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Good points like always, Naegi…” Celeste says like she had been defeated, but smiling nonetheless.

"Yes, Naegi has a good point, but naturally it'd be hard to murder someone without them having a struggle," Togami speaks up once again. "So there must've been some way Monotone restrained Hanamura."

Some way they restrained him... Was there any evidence that could be use for such a thing on the scene? I can recall the bloody dial, the slogan, and...

"That's it..." I whisper to myself.

"Hm?" A certain detective questions.

"Remember the crime scene... Wasn't there a burlap bag?"

"Along with the rope, yeah..." Chihiro speaks understandingly.

"Ah, yes... It's so simple. Why didn't I realize that?" Kirigiri continues. "Monotone could've easily just placed the bag over his head."

"And there's something else that's really confusing me," Celeste interludes. "Why was there blood on the oven dial? I can't seem to make sense of it."

"That was bothering me too..." Is it possible that a member of Monotone turned the dial off after murdering Hanamura? Maybe... I just don't get this...

* * *

I can't believe that everyone is late on a night like this. Komaeda just arrived, and I love the kid, but he does not know when to shut up. I give responses half-heartedly, not really caring about what he's saying. Then he just stops talking and smiles at me. I ask him what he's doing, but he doesn't reply. He's a real unique person, to say the least.

Finally, Mukuro and the rest of the team show up. I scold them for being late, and a few apologize. Then I scold them again for apologizing. They should know better. Another quick review of the game plan, and we take action. Mukuro goes in first, drawing attention to herself so it stays away from us as we sneak in carefully, ducking under tables and chairs. We hear Mukuro talking and wait for the signal. I grasp the burlap bag and move closer to the counter. Hanamura tells her that she has to leave because the restaurant is closed. And then I hear...

"Okay, but one thing first..." I can almost hear Mukuro hiding a smile.

"What is it?" Hanamura sighs, obviously annoyed. My sister waits for me, and I jump up with a huge grin.

"Surprise!"

* * *

The room fills with a thoughtful silence for a moment. My mind is cluttered. What could be the reason? I think I have it, then I find a reason for it not to be true. Thankfully, Kirigiri interrupts my train of thought.

"Well... What if Hanamura escaped the oven? It wasn't exactly locked."

"Oh, of course!" How could I overlook that? I suppose it could be overlooked, but I've been doing this for two years. I'd think I'd able to notice something like that. Leave it to the professional to figure it out first.

"Just pushing the door from the inside would be rather easy," Miss Ludenberg includes the idea.

"And that would explain how and why he was shot at," says Togami.

"So Hanamura escaped the oven, but was then shot and taken down," I review.

"Correct."

"And that would also explain why his legs were outside of the oven," Chihiro states, us waiting for her to finish. "H-Hanamura somehow got out of the oven, tried to run, but was shot, so he collapsed on the oven door before he could get anywhere..."

"Good job with that one, Fujisaki," Kirigiri praises, making Chihiro blush slightly. Togami speaks next.

"Now let's move on to the blood on the dial... How did that get there?"

* * *

The bag goes over his awful hair do and I tighten the rope around his neck, not enough to kill him, just enough to hold him down. My sister quickly jumps over the counter and opens up the oven. I remove the bag, forcefully stuff the chef into it after Mukuro removed the shelves. Successfully, we close the door together, sharing a high five afterward.

"Hey, but isn't it kind of unfair that we don't get to help at all with the murder?" Ibuki whines at me. The cook starts screaming; maybe removing the bag was a bad idea. Mukuro blocks the oven with her body.

"Because most of you can't handle it yet," I reply, aggravated. "Besides, you'd fuck it up for all of us." Walking over to a table, I load my gun. It's nice to be prepared, you know?

"I doubt that," someone hisses from the back. I know that voice. "We're a lot more capable than you think." He mumbles an insult that I can't hear.

“You just _love_ to make me hate you, don’t you, Kuzuryuu?” I ask rhetorically, looking at him a hand on my hip.

“I’m just _saying_ that you underestimate us…” He glances over at Komaeda. “Well, some of us.”

“Are you trying to say that Komaeda is incapable of committing a crime?” The kid smiles and holds his arms out.

“He’s not wrong! I’m so useless, there’s a lot of things I can’t do!” I always wonder he acts like this. He’s surely not your average gang member. “All I can do is hope!” I sigh.

“I honestly think he’s more capable than you are.” I direct the statement at Kuzuryuu. He looks extremely offended.

“You _seriously_ think Mister Hopeful Hope would do better than me?! A _yakuza?!”_ He signals to ‘Mister Hopeful Hope.’

“Hm… Yes, yes I do.” Komaeda’s face lights up while Kuzuryuu looks like he’s about to punch someone at any second. This isn’t something that’s new to me.

In the midst of all this, we hear a loud thumping noise, followed by a painful scream. Looking toward the sound, we see that Mukuro has been knocked down. Hanamura is out of the oven.

“Hey!”

* * *

“Well, maybe something happened before he was shot and failed to run off,” Kirigiri suggests.

“Like what?” We hear Celeste’s voice.

“Surely, there must have been someone on guard of the oven, otherwise it would be simple for Hanamura to escape. Just as an example, it may have been Mukuro, considering that a good amount of her hair was found a few feet from the scene.” I hate that even hearing her name upsets me. This isn’t the time to have these feelings. Hiding my emotions, I talk next.

“What does that have to do with anything? S-Someone being on guard, I mean.” Wow, I sound pathetic.

“When Hanamura got out of the oven, Muku–The guard must’ve tried to stop him somehow.” Why did Kirigiri stop herself there? Normally, she would’ve just called Mukuro the guard until proven otherwise. So why is it different now?

“How so?” Chihiro asks, causing me to refocus on the matter at hand.

“After you all left, I stayed back to further examine the scene.” I hadn’t realized that she didn’t leave with us. “I inspected the body more, and I noticed a wound on his left hand. A deep cut from a knife.”

“So the guard must have attacked Hanamura as he tried to escape by stabbing his hand,” Togami starts, with me finishing.

“And causing there to be blood on the oven dial. He went to turn off the dial. Maybe because he didn’t want to be thrown back in.”

“But doing so slowed him down,” Kirigiri says, looking deep in thought like usual. “He was then shot and collapsed. Someone probably stomped on his head to finalize the murder.”

Did we do it? Did we just figure out how the crime was committed? But what was the point of that? Sure, we understand how it was done now, but we don’t who hit the killing blow, besides that they’re a member of Monotone.

“I think we’re done now…” Togami speaks slowly. “Care to recap, Naegi?” It’s sort of become my habit to retell the murder of how it happened in order, since we figure things out in a strange fashion. I nod and start from the beginning.

“Monotone had plans to murder Teruteru Hanamura, the Super High School Level Chef from when we were in high school.”

* * *

_“There are some people who I personally don’t want to exist anymore,” Ibuki trails off._

_“... I like it.” Mukuro grins along with me, following me down to speak directly to Ibuki. “Give me a name.”_

_“Okay… His name is Teruteru Hanamura. Remember him?” Of course I do. Ugh. “He was such a pervert! Always being an asshole and treating us girls disrespectfully. I wouldn’t mind if he wasn’t around anymore.”_

* * *

“They arrived at the restaurant late at night, a few minutes after the normal closing time…” I struggle saying this next part, but I know it’s what I have to say. “Mukuro Ikusaba served as a distraction while the other members sneaked in. "

* * *

_Mukuro goes in first, drawing attention to herself so it stays away from us as we sneak in carefully, ducking under tables and chairs._

* * *

"While doing so, her sister popped up out of no where and restrained Hanamura with a burlap bag, which was tied with rope.”

* * *

_"Okay, but one thing first..." I can almost hear Mukuro hiding a smile._

_"What is it?" Hanamura sighs, obviously annoyed. My sister waits for me, and I jump up with a huge grin._

_"Surprise!"_

* * *

"They then quickly place him into the oven, assigning Mukuro to be the guard... But he escaped and injured her in the process, she doing to same to him."

* * *

_In the midst of all this, we hear a loud thumping noise, followed by a painful scream. Looking toward the sound, we see that Mukuro has been knocked down. Hanamura is out of the oven._

_“Hey!" Quickly whipping out my gun, I shoot twice, the first bullet hitting the wall, the second going straight into his shoulder. His hand falls off the dial, along with his body onto the floor. "Damn!" I speed over the counter and look at him straight in the eyes. He looks so weak that I almost feel bad. Wait. No I don't._

* * *

"Someone shot at him as he attempted to turn off the oven. He fell over onto the oven door, due to being stabbed, shot, and cooked..."

* * *

He tries to mumble out some words of mercy, but his words are too boring for me, so I jam my heel into his head, and he stops talking. Afterward, I help my sister up and call over the practically useless members of our gang. I order them to write our slogan in his blood. They do so as I go to take a souvenir; his hand. It's not like he needs it anymore, right?

* * *

"... And was delivered the killing blow to his head by high-heeled shoe. That person was Junko Enoshima. She took a hand while the others wrote their slogan and got out as soon as they possibly could... Is that correct?"

"I believe so... Well done, Naegi," comes Celeste's voice.

"But we still don't have much information on Monotone or their members," Togami reminds us. We all look at one another, not sure of what to do next. It's true, but there isn't really anything we can do right now. Thus, we leave the trial room and head back to our offices. On the way back, I walk past Kirigiri's office. Her door is open and I can see her staring at a piece of paper. A note of sorts. I take a step closer, making the slightest sound, which causing her to spin around at an insane speed.

"Oh... It's just you... My apologizes."

"Is everything alright Kirigiri?" She sighs and looks at the note once more. "What's the note say?"

"It seems that Monotone noticed me when I stayed after to investigate," she mutters, putting me on edge. "They're threatening to kidnap me on my way home tonight." My body goes into shock.

"W-What?! Are you serious?!" She looks away for a moment before crumpling up the paper and throwing it behind her desk. "Kirigiri! What are you doing?!

"Keep it down. It's nothing but an empty threat. It would be foolish to kidnap me." She shrugs. "I'm not afraid."

"Well, I am! Don’t lie to me, you know you are too!"

"That's exactly what they want. They wanted to scare us. Don't let them get to you. Then they win." She seems awfully calm, considering the situation.

"At least let me walk you home."

"No, I'll be fine. Besides, this could be a test. If they see you walking with me, then they'll think that you care about me a lot." She says it so casually... "And they'll use that against us."

"But–" And she kicks me out of the room.

Will she be okay? Was the note just a lie to frighten us or test us? I'm still worried about it, but I can't do anything about it, thanks to Kyouko Kirigiri. She's got a little too much confidence at times. I guess I'll just have to have faith in her.

But when I arrive at home, right before I get into bed, I receive a very unnerving phone call.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi sorry!!! wow ive been terrible with uploading this i actually have like 2 or 3 more chapters done of this, so i'll upload those this week :o

"Hey, Naegi! How are you?" The familiar yet unpleasant voice of Junko Enoshima stabs through my ears through the receiver. My face is filled with horror as I begin to sweat.

"Junko! What are you doing?!" I scream at her. My voice is unsteady, but I attempt to control it as much as possible.

"Oh, Naegi~ I love it when you yell!" She says with a mocking tone of loveliness. "But to answer your question, I'm currently looking at your girlfriend! You usually call her Kirigiri."

My heart drops straight down into the earth. I lack words. Breathing is a huge difficulty. How... Why would they...

"How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"Don't try to sound strong, Naeg. We all know you're scared." She isn't wrong... "Why don't we prove it? Speak, you!"

There's silence. I'm not sure what to think.

"Hm... Cat got your tongue again? Well, that's unfortunate. How about we make you talk..."

I hear a painful scream.

I know it belongs to Kirigiri.

"What are you doing to her?! Let her go!"

"Don't come Naegi, it's a trap!" The shaky sound of Kirigiri echoes throughout my brain. I fall to my knees, nearly pulling the telephone off the table.

"Ah, look! You found your voice!"

"Kirigiri! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, just– _Don't_ come down here!"

"Mm, and by _'here'_ she means the basement of the abandoned building on the corner of Atlantic  & Nostrand. That's where we are. Miss Smarty Pants Detective over here thought that we were stupid enough to stash her in our hideout. She's quite talkative, actually. But I'm not one to chat... So you should hurry down before she can't speak anymore, if you know what I mean."

I've never felt more afraid in my whole life. My hand is shaking as laughter of two run races in my head.

"Hurry up, Naegi!" Junko sings.

_Click._

* * *

I recollect myself and head toward the aforementioned building. This is unreal. I'm in complete denial. They don’t have Kirigiri. That wasn’t her voice. She’s currently at home, sound asleep in her bed, not a worry on her mind. Everything’s okay. The street lights glare upon me. At one point during my walk, I collapse with fear. Then I start crying, like the grown man I am. Why is this happening? Why me? Why _her?_ What is it about her that makes this situation so much more unbearable than it normally would? I haven't experienced this before--It’s not a natural occurance--so this kind of reaction should be normal, right? Kirigiri and I aren't even close. Work acquaintances at most. I wipe my face, pick myself up to my best ability, and run. It's not long before I hear my name.

"Naegi!" It's Chihiro. She's chasing me until I stop, waiting for her to catch up. "Did you get a call too?"

“Wait, they called you?” I guess I wasn’t the only person who received the magic phone call. “What’d they say to you?” I give her a moment to catch her breath, and her little voice starts to explain.

“They said that they had Kirigiri captive, and that if I didn’t show up soon, they would seriously hurt her! I didn’t know _what_ to believe, so I asked if they were lying. They said no, and told Kirigiri to prove it by speaking, but she was silent. Then they told me to hurry and hung up. I couldn’t risk anything, so I came here.” It appears we had similar conversations… But mine was a bit more dreadful to hear. I told Chihiro about my call, about how they _did_ hurt her just so she would talk, and she looked horrified.

“It’s not your fault, Chihiro. There was nothing we could do about it. Let’s just find her as soon as we can.” She agrees, but I can see tears in her eyes. I give her a brief but comforting hug to hopefully calm her down and prevent her from crying before we continue on our way.

Navigating the streets is hard when you can’t see them. The lights from the streetlamps barely make the signs visible. We have to go mostly from memory. The both of us remain pretty quiet, besides giving directions to each other. It doesn’t really seem like the time for chit chat. Thankfully, there aren’t many people around at night. We wouldn’t want to cause a scene. Chihiro finds Atlantic, but not Nostrand. We consider splitting up, but then decided it too risky. Since I’m Super High School Level Luck, she makes me pick which way we turn. My gut says to go left, so we go left. It’s true that I am a pretty lucky person, but I never really thought I’d be thinking with luck in times like this. Soon, we happen upon the corner of Atlantic and Nostrand.

“How lucky…” Chihiro mutters. I’m not sure exactly how I should take that. In any case, we go up to the door. Of course, it’s locked. But fortunately, I’ve got the Super High School Level Hacker by my side. It takes her no more than ten seconds to pick the lock. I’m sort of afraid that she constantly carries multiple lockpicks with her. But I choose not to question her right now. We bust the door open with force and attempt to find Kirigiri, yelling her name several times.

“I’m over here, you guys,” we finally hear her faint voice coming from the basement. After a quick glance, we rush down the stairs. Kirigiri is sitting tied to a chair. I notice that there are no members of Monotone around. There are a severe amount of cuts on Kirigiri’s hand and a single large one on her face. I assume that’s from our phone call. Guilt washes over me. Chihiro and I both yell her name and go to free her.

“What happened? What’d they do to you? Are you okay?” I flood her with questions.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” She says that, but the second she stands up, she falls back down. I catch her before she hits the floor, having her use me as support.

“Don’t lie to me, Kirigiri,” I tell her, maybe a little too rudely.

“We have to take you to a hospital!” Chihiro yells. I’m not sure if that necessarily counts as a yell, but it’s Chihiro, so it’s the best she can do.

“No… Don’t…” This girl is insane.

“Are you out of your mind?!” It’s me yelling now. And it’s loud this time. “And by the way, why weren’t you speaking when you were on the phone with us? That was suicidal!”

“I didn’t want… Any of you to get hurt… But you were dumb enough to come down here…”

“Wait a second. We just saved your goddamn life, and you have the nerve to say we were dumb for doing so?!” I’m rather offended right now. I was terrified that she was going to die tonight. I risked _my_ life to save _hers,_ and this is the thanks I get? I’m growing angry with her. “You know what, let’s just go.” I abruptly pull her along, apparently in a painful manner. Chihiro shouts my name, as if to tell me that I was being too harsh. I don’t express it on my face, but I try to be more gentle. Chihiro goes home upon my request, and I take Kirigiri back to hers. I try to keep up my act, but it gets more difficult every time she let's out a quiet sound to notify me of the pain she's in. It's pretty silent besides that. We arrive at her building and carefully ascend the stairs. When I take her inside her apartment, she tells me I can go now. That she'll be alright on her own. But I completely ignore her. I set her on her huge mattress and search the bathroom for gauze. Then I proceed to tend to her hands, cleaning off the blood, wrapping them in bandages. She's given up on trying to push me away.

"... Seriously. Thank you." Her voice is low and soft. I glance at her, but she continues to stare at her newly bandaged hand. I move on to her left.

"Of course. I didn't mind. I'm just glad you're okay," I say, putting my ego aside. “Just… Try not to be so reckless next time. Let us help you. We know what we’re doing too.”

“I wasn’t afraid. I knew what I was doing as well.” By now I’ve finished bandaging both of her hands and return it to the bathroom.

“I already told you.” I lean against the bathroom door.

“Huh?”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“... Okay.” This response startles me. I didn’t expect her to say something like that. I thought she would just deny, deny, deny. Pretend like she was super tough and fearless. Which I believed her to be, but tonight was different. We stare at one another for a bit until I sit down by her. This bed is way more comfortable than mine. The silence slowly fills the room, trapping us with no way out. I now realize that I forgot to take care of her face cut. Seeing as it’s already almost healed itself, I go to touch it. She flinches, I apologize, she says it’s alright. My hand carefully moves to cup her cheek, guiding her to look me straight in the eyes. Our faces are close. We get closer and closer…

Then I stop.

“What is it?” She talks quietly again. We’re in an odd position right now… I don’t exactly know what I was doing, and I don’t know what she thought I was doing.

“I think we should work together on this.” We had been assigned to investigate Monotone separately, to avoid suspicion. But after tonight, it feels too dangerous to be on our own. I had been thinking this all night. Considering the awkward situation I put us in, brought it up now.

“What?” I move a reasonable distance from her. She does the same.

“If we’re always in a team, then they can’t hurt you–Us. Either of us.” _Whoops._

“Oh… Yeah, you have a good point. Should we tell Togami?” I shake my head no. He’s a suspicious guy, and we don’t want him thinking the wrong thing. I tell Kirigiri this, and she agrees. After a few more seconds of pure silence, we start up some small talk.

The current news leads to the case. The case leads to high school. High school leads to our old friends. Old friends bring up bad memories. Soon, we find ourselves deep into a conversation. She tells me some more about her and Sayaka, and I tell her about Mukuro. I decide to keep my past with Sayaka to me. I don’t want to scare off Kirigiri. Hours go by. The world outside the window remains dark. And with time, we both fall asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I wake up tightly wrapped in blankets. The first thing I notice is that I’m closer to the left of my bed, as opposed to the middle. My alarm clock is on the right table, and even though I have the day off today, I roll over to check it.

But instead I’m met with a sleeping Kirigiri. I let out a loud gasp, feeling heat flood my face. Then I quiet myself; I don’t want to wake her up. Her eyes are closed and her breathing is even. She looks so content. Her hair doesn’t have her signature single braid in it anymore. Her normal uniform is replaced by a long white nightgown. I notice I’m in sleepwear as well, just not mine. We’re not only sharing a blanket, but a pillow as well. My hearts races as I try to recall how we got here. Slowly, I remember everything. We talked into the late hours of night and to the crack of dawn. She made me look away as she changed, and lent me an old outfit she got from a mission a while ago, when she had to go undercover as a male. I thought it was odd that she still kept the clothing.

Then we laid on her bed and spoke at the ceiling. Eventually, we got cold and went under the covers. It was weird at first, but we got used to it quickly. I fell asleep waiting for her to fall asleep. Now I’m here, waiting for her to wake up. Maybe I shouldn’t be watching her. But she looks so peaceful and–Yeah, I’m going to get up now.

I stand up from the bed as gently as I can in attempt not to disturb her. Changing into my normal uniform, I see the gauze on the side table. I remember how I nearly kissed her last night, promptly covering my face with my hands. What was I thinking? Was I just tired? Did I really mean it? This is too much for me. I should just go.

“Naegi…?” The shuffling of bedsheets means she’s awake. Kirigiri sits upward and looks to me. “Where’re you going?”

“Oh, I, uh… I was just… Home. I-I was going home, I mean.” I don’t know where all the nervousness in my voice came from. But I just need to get a hold of myself.

“Oh… Okay,” she mumbles, rubbing her eyes, still half-asleep. Then I'm out the door– _"You should..._ Stay for breakfast though..." She grabs my attention by speaking so abruptly. "I mean, I do owe you for your saving me last night." Is she asking me out? Or is it just casual? Either way, this is strange...

"Sure, that sounds lovely." She smiles at me. "Though, we should bring Chihiro over too. She was important to saying you, too." The smile falls a bit.  
... Why did I say that? It seems it was meant to be a date. And I just ruined it. Then, does this mean that Kirigiri has any sort of romantic feelings toward me? I wish I could stop having so many questions.

"Yeah, of course. I was... Going to do that." I don't believe it, but I shut the door anyhow. Before I dial Chihiro, I sit back next to Kirigiri on her bed. She messes with her hair while I sigh. A silence fills the room again. This has been happening a lot with us lately. But each time, there is less and less awkwardness. The first time, you could grab the feeling from the air and break a window if you threw it. Though, now, it's just a thin string tied around us.

“So… About what happened last night…”

“Yeah. I know. Don’t worry about it. It was meaningless. Spur of the moment.” She says it sharp. Bitter. It sort of hurt. She places her hand on top of mine. “Thanks for helping me out, though.” Smiling at me, she gets up from her bed. I watch her long hair extend down her back, her white gown flowing as she stretches. She _is_ a pretty girl. She looks over at me, then giggles. “Naegi, you’re blushing.” Startled, I jump off the bed and turn away, fixing my clothes as she continues to laugh.

“You’re lying.”

“Yeah, and that reaction helped prove your point, didn’t it?”

“Shut up and just get me my food,” I reply defeatedly, Kirigiri still laughing.

* * *

Soon, Chihiro made her way over and Kirigiri was working on making breakfast for three. I feel bad that Kirigiri is cooking for us, considering the current state of her hands, but she insisted. Chihiro and I sit at her table, commencing the small talk like usual. It died down after a while; sizzling can be heard from the kitchen.

“Do you want to talk about Mukuro now?” Again I’m startled. I have no idea where this came from. I knew she was going to bring this up at some point, but I least expected it now. Kirigiri didn’t seem to hear the question. I already discussed Mukuro with Kirigiri, but I sugarcoated it. She doesn’t need to be burden with it all. I still dismiss the question.

“No, I don’t. I didn’t want to talk about her in the first place.”

“Come on, Naegi. You obviously have a lot of pent of emotions. At least tell me how you’re feeling.”

“I’m feeling like I don’t want to talk about it.” I try to look away, but she guides her eyes back to mine. “No.” But I know Chihiro. She refuses to take no as an answer. That trait is for better or for worse. She stares me down, demanding a reply without using any words. This glare always makes me cave. “... Fine.” I let out a sigh before I reluctantly start. “I guess… I’m disappointed. You know, that she’d be involved with something like that. I thought she was better than that. I feel guilty. Like this is my fault. Kirigiri doesn’t know this, but our breakup was absolutely horrid. I’m sure you remember how rudely we treated one another afterward.” She nods along knowingly. “But… There’s still something here. Something inside me that still really cares about her. I don’t think I ever stopped, quite honestly. And--Oh, hey, Kirigiri!” I suddenly stop myself upon seeing her walk in the room carrying plates of food. Chihiro eyes me but says no more. Kirigiri asks what we were talking about, and we both say politics without agreeing before hand. I suppose Chihiro and I think on the same wavelength.

Breakfast passes with little conversation. There’s a bit of awkwardness in the air. We finish our meals and thank Kirigiri. I consider staying with her for the day, but then decided that it’s a weird thing to bring up. So I just leave with Chihiro. We’re hit by a huge gust a wind when we walk outside. I feel her grip the hem of my jacket, so I have her link her arm around mine. From there, we walk to her apartment building. I take her up all the way to her room, where she asks if I'm okay, "Seriously this time." My response is"I don't know," then I walk away. She doesn't try to stop me, Unfortunately, my hectic week isn't over. yet. On my way back, someone calls out to me from an alley so dark, I bet they couldn't seem their own hand in front of their face.

"Hi Naegi."

It's a girl's voice. I stop for a moment, keep my eyes away from the alley, and continue walking.

"Don't pretend like you don't hear me." There's a hint of a giggle.

The familiarity of the voice I felt strikes me right through my heart. People on the street pass right by me. My body starts to tremble.

"Come here, why don't you?" She speaks so gently, yet so eerily. I suppose I could just run off, but I don't. She has pulled me into the void of the alleyway. Once I'm in the darkness, I can sense her all around me. "Nice to see you. Well, be around you, I guess."

She giggles some more, and as she does so, I take a guess at her location. Succeeding, I grab her and push her against the wall.

"Junko! What the hell did you do to Kirigiri last night?! And why?!" She pauses a moment, then I can tells she smiles.

"Wow, Naegi. This is a pretty sexual position you put us in..." Junko wraps her arms around me, but I quickly shove her off.

_"Answer_ me."

"You've gotten strong! And feisty, too!" More laughter. "But I guess you won't let me go without an answer, so I'll tell you!" Wait for it... "For a price."

"Of course!" Though I laugh a little, I'm quite angry with her right now. "I knew you'd say that. There's always a 'price' for Junko Enoshima. What is it? Money? Information?"

"Hmm... Something you don't want to do, and something I want to do... Why not a kiss? How much would that piss you off? Make you feel uncomfortable?"

It does, obviously. It's precisely the kind of thing she'd come up with. Especially with me. Back in high school, Junko flirted with everyone. It was very common. Though, my classmates told me that she was different around me. I think it was about dominance. Mukuro and I were dating, and I guess Junko was jealous. I was decently popular, as was Junko, so it was natural for her to want a popular guy. Chihiro said she had a crush on me. I couldn't tell. Nonetheless, she expects me to freak out, deny it, and ultimately force me to kiss her, just to bother me. But I'm not giving her the satisfaction. It's true I don't want to, but I pull her into the kiss she asked for. I'm impressed with my ability to locate her in such darkness. I take her by surprise, and she understands what I'm trying to do. So she tries to make it even more uncomfortable by throwing her tongue in my mouth. I'm not sure to when this became a competition, but I do the same in return. Then she moves her hand to certain places and I'm done.

"Fine! You win," I say, wiping my lips and estimating the amount of mouthwash I'll need to use tonight.

"Ha! Nice try, Naegi. Honestly, I'm impressed." I hear rustling and a box opening before a lighter clicks on, illuminating the scene and her twisted little face. She's smoking, like she has ever since I've met her. "You're quite persevering. Want one?" I look at her sarcastically.

"Funny." She chuckles.

"Should've guessed. You've always been a goodie-goodie..." I can see the expression on her face a little, vague light barely glowing upon her.

"You got what you wanted, now tell me." Cigarette smoke blows in my face, most likely on purpose, causing me to cough and brush it away. I've never liked smoking.

"Whatever. We just wanted to fuck with you guys. So we took in the one who seemed the strongest, mentally. We were gonna take in Togami, but since he's the ringleader, we decided against it. We don't need legal trouble."

"Says the leader of a murderous klepto-gang." She sort of shrugs. I think.

"And what did we do? Couldn't you tell? We cut her up real bad. Face, hands. Almost her neck, right about here," and she runs a sharp nail underneath my chin. It feels weird against my skin. "We asked her a few things, like herself and her job. We even asked about you." I'm thankful she can't see my shocked expression right now. How I'm burning to know what she said. "... I know you wanna know what her answers were." Heels click toward my slowly. Junko feels down my neck until she finds the collar of my shirt and tugs on it. Her cigarette warms my face ever so slightly. "She said you were just work acquaintances. Nothing more. _Nothing."_ She whispers the last word right in my ear and lets me go.

"I don't care what she said," I lied, "What she said was true anyway."

"Sure, Makoto." She puffs out more smoke and starts to walk off. "In any case, ring Monotone any time. We should definitely chat like this again."

"That's never going to happen, and don't call me Makoto." I follow her out in the daylight and finally see her face. She looks the same as ever. Just her clothes are... More revealing.

"But you call me Junko," she states, matter-of-factly, "It's only fair." And she's gone. I watch her strut off, like nothing just happened. The people who walk past her don’t know that a mastermind criminal just bumped their shoulder. They’re too busy to care. Then someone bumps into _my_ shoulder, and I decide to keep moving as well. Hopefully, I can go home without any more interruptions.

* * *

"Welcome back, Junko!" Sonia yells at me as I walk in the building. "Oh–Sorry! I meant–"

"Yeah, whatever." Some people just never learn. She bows her head to apologize, but I honestly don't care.

"How'd it go?" Mukuro asks, her head bandaged from the previous murder. I sent a smirk around the room, since all eyes were on me, and wink to my sister.

"It went well. _Very_ well." Mukuro shakes her head, but not her smile.

"Oh jeez, what'd you do to the poor boy?" As I walk closer toward her, people circle around us.

"I didn't do anything. He did." I can word this in a way to upset her. I know I can, and I'm totally going to. "He kissed me. And he kissed me _real_ good." Her faces gradually fades as the crowd goes _ooooh._ She crosses her arms defensively. "Something wrong?" She's glaring at me now.

"You bitch," she mutters under her breath, but the entire room heard it. They whoop even louder. I act like I'm offended until she turns away, then I smile the biggest I have in a while. We go into the back room, where we live normally, but no one follows.

"Aw, come on, Sis!" She leads me through doors and around tables.

"You're lying! I know you are! Makoto would _never_ do that." She trying not to yell.

"But I'm not! Oh, sister, why don't you trust me?" I joke. She doesn't find it funny.

"Shut the hell up." And she slams her bedroom door.

"Oh, please Mukuro, I'm sorry," I say dully. She knows I'm not being serious. "Please don't be mad at me. Noooo." Then I walk off with a grin. I just keep winning today, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good job naegi you had the chance to arrest her and you stuck your tongue in her mouth instead smh f- detective job


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT I AM SORRY

She can't stop looking at her hand. Sure, the diamond is small, but she doesn't really care. Hell, he could've given her a plain pebble from the street; she'd still value it with her life.

"Would you stop staring it down? You're making me insecure," her new fiancé jokes, slight truth in his voice. "I know it's kind of lame. It's all I could afford."

"You've obviously never been engaged before," Chiaki replies with a giggle.

"And that's a bad thing?" Hajime smiles at her from the couch. He's reading a magazine, up until his bride-to-be collapses on top of him, showcasing the ring to both of them.

"Seriously, though, look at it!" She beams at the little rock on her finger as Hajime hooks her hips to him by his arms. "I look so good with this."

"Please," Hajime starts seriously, "You always look good. Amazing. Stunning, even. There are too many words." Chiaki rolls her eyes, but kisses him nonetheless.

"You're too sweet." She lets out a sigh and embraces him, her head resting on his shoulder. She never felt more at peace than when she did when she was with him. However the hell she was blessed with him, she didn't know. But she'd rather not question it. The two have been dating since high school. They were the couple that everyone loved and was jealous of. They never really understood the jealousy. As Hajime was always saying, they were just a couple. But they were–and still are–a damn good one. He plays with her hair as these thoughts and memories run through her mind. Chiaki speaks very gently. "I love you."

"And I love you." He holds her tighter than he ever has. He's so glad that he met her. That he happened to catch the sight of a sleepy girl carrying boardgames wherever she went. She feels the same. Though it was hard not to notice the cheerful kid with the weird hair.

In any case, both of them were completely and utterly lovestruck from their recent engagement. They cuddle on the sofa for a bit, laughing and talking, thoughts heavy with the wedding. Chiaki wants to get married now. Right now. She doesn't want to wait any longer, even though they were just engaged earlier today. She's just too excited.

* * *

I hate the ringing of the bell. It's not really because it means more dreadful high school, it's loud and unnecessary. There should be a more efficient, more pleasant way to signify the end of class. In any class, I shut my notebook and shuffle out of the room. As I leave the room, Chihiro is waiting there for me. Her face glows when she sees me.

"Hello Makoto!" She joins my side as we walk.

“I’ve told you countless times not to call me Makoto. Just say Naegi.”

“Oh, come on, _Makoto_ ~!” She smiles up at me, clutching her book tightly. “We’re friends, aren’t we?” I suppose I could be nicer to her. I've just been having a rough week is all. Maizono broke up with me. I haven't told Chihiro yet. I thought things were going so well. That made the break up ten times worse. Not only that, but it was my first relationship. My first breakup. I'm not sure if a month is a long time or not, but it doesn't really matter to me. I was– No, I _am_ in love with her. Plus, she was just using me to get to an ex-friend. Unfortunately, as I walk down this hall with Chihiro, he's got her pushed up against a locker, making out with her in a very disgusting way. It looks extremely uncomfortable. Does that even qualify as kissing? Besides the fact, I can't look away. It hurts a lot. Chihiro notices two of them and looks to me. It takes her a second to reply. "Come on. Let's go to the roof," and she starts dragging me upstairs.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Ma– Naegi... I can't believe Maizono would cheat on you. In _public,_ nonetheless–" Chihiro walks onto the rooftop, me trailing behind her. I just collapse face down on the cement roof.

"We broke up." Chihiro's feet stop shuffling. "She tore out my heart and fed it to the dogs."

"Oh, no..." She says quietly. I sense her lay next to me and I feel her hand hold mine. "I'm... really, really, sorry... What happened?"

"I don't know. Everything was going so well. We were a great couple. We worked perfectly. Then, she left. Called me a loser, walked out of our relationship and into one with Leon. It hurt so much, Chihiro. So much."

"I know it must... I didn't think Maizono was the type to do something like that..." She brings me into a hug suddenly. She tells me it's okay to cry, and I didn't know I already was. I hold her too and let it all out.

"Sorry you have to deal with me like this," I chuckle, "I'm a bit of a mess right now."

"You don't need to apologize. It's okay. I love you. This will blow over soon. Don't worry about it too much."

"There's not much else to do, Chihiro. Let me mourn over our dead relationship." She nods and talks no more. This is the first time I've ever cried in front of her. It's not that I was afraid to cry with her around per se, I just never thought she would've wanted to put up with me. Now I'm just being selfish. She's the only friend I have left.

Once I stop crying, she pulls me up and holds my facing, forcing me to look at her.

"Everything bad goes away at some point, no matter how horrible it may seem, no matter how long it takes. I love you." She kisses my cheek as I ask her a question.

"Why do you keep saying that you love me?" She hugs me next.

"Because I don't want you to feel alone. Because you're not. Because I love you." I return her hug and shut my eyes. It's true. I have felt very alone since Maizono dumped me. But... Not anymore.

"I love you, too." After that, we leave school early and spend the rest of the day talking in my bedroom.

* * *

As I filed through the usual letters about taxes, I notice one from my sister. I don't know why she sent me a letter; she lives really close to me. My sister and I were always close growing, but we didn't hang out much at school. Anywhere else, from home to family vacation, we couldn't be seen without the other. But now, we don't talk as much. It's kind of sad, actually. The letter reads:

_Hey, brother!_

_Long time, no see, huh? I really miss you! As I hope you know, I'm graduating this year! I'd love to meet up with you before I graduate high school and catch up with each other. How have things been? I hope you're still friends with Chihiro. She was my favorite of your friends. If so, tell her I said hi! Oh, and are you currently dating anyone? Any lucky lady out there? Or is there a certain girl who's caught your attention? Ah, now I have to know! Call me as soon as you get this letter!_

_\- Love always, Komaru_

I smile reading the letter. She hasn't changed a bit. She was always prying on my social life, and I kept her up to date. She was there when I had my break-ups that almost killed me, when I felt like there was no one else to go to. One time, Chihiro was away for a whole month, and I had to cling to Komaru over that time. Of course, I always listened to her and her problems. She dated some pretty unique people, and it never ended well. Her first boyfriend, Hajime something, I think, left her all a sudden for some girl who played board games in class. Similar to what happened with Maizono and I, except Hajime wasn't using her. He actually cared about her. And his relationship with the boardgame girl was completely different from Maizono and Leon's. _Completely._

I find the phone that I hadn't used since the night Kirigiri was kidnapped... Which was last night. I can't believe that happened last night. It feels like it was such a long time ago. I find Komaru's phone number on the table. She sounds so cheerful when I greet her that I can't help but beam to myself. How did I survive without her for two years? We briefly talk before arranging plans to meetup at the coffee shop down the road from my apartment. She refuses to let me tell her any information about my life until we meet in person. I chuckle and agree, telling her I can't wait to see her again. She says the same to me.

* * *

The instant I walk in the coffee shop, I'm suffocated by a hug. It's Komaru.

"Koto! Hi!" The both of us laugh together. I pick her up and spin her around a bit, just like we used to. She always asked me to do it when we were younger, and it got more difficult when we reached middle school, but it made her happy, so I did it anyway. I notice people grinning at us. She guides me to a table she had picked out and sits me down.

"It's nice to see you too, _Maru,"_ I test out her old nickname again. When Komaru was really young, she had trouble saying my actual name, so she just called me 'Koto,' and it stuck. Eventually, I got annoyed with it and mocked the nickname, and she hated it too. We stopped with the names for a period of time, then we had this huge fight. We got sick of fighting after a while, and when we we're making up, she called me 'Koto,' and I called her 'Maru,' and the names became affectionate. Pretty weird, if you ask me.

"So!" She grins, "How've you been? Anything interesting happen lately?" The first thing I think about is Kirigiri. Just because of what happened to her last night. Nothing else.

"Uh, not really. Not much besides work stuff. My life's been pretty relaxed since I left home." So I lied a little. What's the harm? "What about you?"

"Absolutely boring. I heard that Hajime and board game girl are getting married," she says, disinterested. "Good for them, I guess."

"Sorry to hear," I reply sympathetically. I know she wishing she was the one marrying him.

"No, I don't care. Why would I care? I don't." She smiles nonchalantly. "He actually invited me to the wedding–"

"He did _what?_ That son of a bitch." Ain't that a slap in the face? Who would invite their ex to their wedding? "Don't go."

"I don't know if I will or not. Aren't they a little young to be getting married, though? I feel like I'm the only one addressing this issue." She's right. They're the same age as Komaru. Just eighteen. Maybe it's true love? Maybe they're being reckless? Who knows. I guess it's not any of my business.

"Yeah, you've got a point."

"I mean if he was gonna marry so young, why couldn't it have been me, you know? Why wasn't I good enough? What makes her so special? What's so bad about me?" I look sadly at her. "... But anyway, how've you been? ... Jeez, the first time I see you in two years and I'm already complaining."

"No no no, don't worry, it's okay. I know what you're feeling." I take both of my hands and hold hers over the table. She's a very emotional girl and isn't afraid to express it. She chuckles slightly as she talks.

"But seriously, how have you been? Give me an interesting answer this time. I know there's one somewhere."

"Well," I take my hands away and put them behind my head. "The case we're working on in pretty interesting. In fact, last night, one of our detectives was held captive by the gang we're investigating, and Chihiro and I had to go save her." Komaru's eyes widen and her jaw drops.

"Wow! That's so intense! Like something out of a book! What happened next?" She leans over the table and prepares to  hear my story. Oh no, I know how she's going to react to this. Nonetheless, I'll tell her.

"Uh... I took her home, tended to her wounds and... stayed the night. By accident." I add the last part to make it sound better. But of course...

"Whoa, big brother, I didn't know you were the type–" She teases.

"Nothing happened, Maru! Seriously!"

"Yeah, and you're hiding behind your hands because nothing happened. Yes, I was hoping there was some girl you liked!"

"I don't like her like thaaaat!" She just loves to mess with me.

"Uh huh, sure. I know you, Koto, I know you when you have crushes. So let's skip the part where you deny it and go straight to the part where you tell me about her."

"I already said–"

"Ah– What did I just say?" There's no winning with her. So I might as well. But... Do I even like Kirigiri in that way? I haven't really thought about it. Considering my feelings over the past few days...

"... She's beautiful." Komaru smiles from pleasure and success. "She's incredible. She's intelligent, brave, mysterious. Absolutely amazing. I... I almost kissed her last night."

"You _what?!"_

"I chickened out at the last second. I don't know what happened. God, I should've kissed her, huh?”

"Uh, yeah!" She throws her arms up. "You're a smart man. You've should've done it. Make me a promise."

"A promise?"

"Next time you see her, kiss her. No matter what the situation is."

"That won't work. It'll just–"

" _Promise_ me." She is really is stubborn, isn't she? But she usually knows what she's doing. Whenever I followed her little schemes growing up, it ended pretty well. I'll trust her this time too, then.

"... Fine, I promise."

* * *

The next time I saw Kirigiri was later that night. She called me over to her house to discuss something important. I'm not sure exactly what she has in mind. She said it was about the case, and that Togami had talked to her about it. Now I'm just walking in the dark to her house again. Except I'm a little more at peace this time. I really do enjoy walking around at night, even if it's a bit dangerous. Especially when I'm not searching for a lost girl.

When I finally arrive and knock on her door, Kirigiri opens it with a smile, wearing that pretty white dress from before.

"Hello. Sorry, I hope you don't mind that I put on my nightgown already." I shake my head.

"No, no, it's alright." She lets me in and I stand off to the side. There isn't really anywhere to sit here. When you walk into her weirdly shaped apartment, the first room you walk in is her bedroom. The only places to sit would be in front of her vanity or on her bed, and neither of those felt appropriate. Yet, she invites me to sit on the bed while she continues to take off her make-up, apologizing for it. While she does so, I think about how I'm going to kiss her, or whether I should do it at all. As soon as she's done with her make-up, she pulls out a small book from under her bed. She takes her notes in this book. I think it's a cute habit, since they aren't very serious notes. She doesn't write down anything extremely important or vital. Her method of thinking is that if she writes down the little things, then she can easily remember the huge and important things. She told me this last night. I got to look through a bit of it, and it's filled with tiny doodles and words in French. Some of it's a diary too. She didn't let me read that.

"Okay," She sits next to me and flips the book open. "Togami called me today and wanted me to work on something individually... But I asked if I could request help from another detective in our department, and he said yes. Just one. So I picked you." She smiles at me. I return it, noticing we were as close as we were yesterday.

"Well, I'm honored, Mrs. Kirigiri. Absolutely _honored._ " She giggles at my remark and looks back at the paper.

"He told me that Monotone will  attempt to rob some paintings that will be showcased at a party in three days, Friday night at 8 p.m., at the Morris," she holds a finger under the words as she reads them. I silently notice the sound of rain starting to attack her window. "Since he's Byakuya Togami, he easily got an invite. He's allowed to let us come too. So it's important for us to be prepared. We need to figure out a strategy. Alright?" And that's when I fulfill my sister's promise. I'm exhilarated. The last person I kissed was Mukuro, back in eleventh grade. I forgot how great it felt. There are so many feelings right now. The feeling of a first kiss in a long time. A first kiss with a new person. A first kiss with Kyouko Kirigiri. I don't know which is the strongest. She pulls back and smiles at me.

"Finally."

... What?

"What do you mean... Finally? We've only been seriously talking for a few days."

"Oh... So you really don't remember?" What the hell could she possibly be talking about? "Alright then." She casually crosses her legs and looks to the side smirking.

"Hey, wait, what?" She giggles a bit. What does she know...? "Tell me."

"Okay, okay. So, remember back when you had that minor drinking problem?"

"Um... Yeah?" I'm not sure if it was exactly minor. It was about six months ago? All I would do each weekend would be drink myself senseless. It started just because I tried a drink one time. Once. Now when I drink, I barely finish my first. Come to think of it, each night I got incoherently drunk, I didn't remember what happened... But I woke up in my bed every morning...

"Well, one night, the first night, you called me." It's so weird hearing things I did that I don't remember. "You told me to come over. I thought it was weird but I was concerned, so I did. When I arrived, you were giggly and bubbly. It was kind of cute, actually," she smiles, causing me to blush. Of course. "I was the first number you saw on your list of phone numbers, you said. Then you kissed me." I gasp at that. So I guess that _wasn't_ my first kiss with her. Maybe my first one I remember. This is all so crazy to me. "I said that we couldn't do that. We couldn't have a work relationship. And you know what you said to me?"

"Obviously I don't." She smiles at me again, but it's strangely warm.

"Compromise."

"... And what did I mean by that?"

"You wanted to compromise our relationship. Instead of dating normally, we'd only date on the nights you got drunk. For a guy who was hyped up on alcohol, you were quite aware. So I agreed. We got to know each other. Or, I got to know you, since you don't remember. Oh, and we made out a lot, too." Her fingers take my tie off, tossing it on the floor. "I prefer this though. Knowing that you'll remember. It feels more real. I like it a lot more." Kirigiri kisses me again. And again. This is so much for my brain to process. I'm not sure what to think. I'm glad it worked out well though. Before I completely lose my breath to her, I draw back.

"You know, we should really figure out what we're gonna do Friday..." She understands that I'm joking, playfully tells me to shut up, and lays the two of us on her bed. The plans can wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Everything is going nice and cheery until the couple's telephone rings. Nanami sighs, asking for her fiancé to get the phone. He carefully takes her off of him and goes to answer the phone. He picks up and greets the caller.

"Hello, Hajime Hinata speaking."

"Hey, there, Hajime! I've got a question for you!" It's an unfamiliar girl speaking... "You've been selected! So, what do you say? Would you like to join Monotone?"

"... What?"


	5. Chapter 5

After a short discussion, Hajime puts the phone back on the receiver, utterly confused.

"Who was that?" Chiaki asks from the couch, holding the ring up to the light to examine it more.

"I don't know... Do you know anyone by the name Enoshima?"

"Hm..." She thinks for a moment. "Junko Enoshima? Is that her?"

"Yeah, that's her! Who is she?" He sits next to her on the couch. She promptly leans over him, her head on the armrest.

"She was an upperclassman of ours. Diva. Rebel. That's about it. I heard she's been doing some rotten things lately."

"Huh. Well, she just called me and asked me to join her group. Monotone, I think." Hinata starts to play with her bangs. "I don't think I will. It sounds like a bad idea." Nanami agrees. "But she asked me to meet up with her somewhere tomorrow. I'll probably do that, though. Can't be that bad, right?"

"What? Babe– You're kidding right?" She laughs a bit, hoping he's kidding. Unfortunately, the look on his face tells her otherwise. "Oh no. Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"She's a disaster! Dangerous!" Nanami stands up and directs herself i front of her fiancé.

"Honey, you're exaggerating," he responds with a chuckle. He stands up as well, taking her hands in his. "I'll be fine." She glares at him.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"What? Why?" He looks concerned.

"If it's not dangerous, then it should be fine, right?" Hinata sighs. It seems she's won this time. Again. No matter how hard he tries, he can never seem to win against her.

"Okay."

* * *

I wake up to the sound of giggling. I'm startled; who's laughing? What bed am I in? The first thing my eyes focus on is Kirigiri. She's hovering over me, looking me right in the face. I yell from surprise, covering myself with a blanket.

"Relax, Naegi," she smiles, moving back to lay next to me. Briefly, I scan the area.

"Wait–Last night, did we–?"

"Yes, we did. Don't tell me you forgot that too." She supports her head up on her hand.

"Wait–Oh, right." With a groan, I feel my face getting redder as I sink into the bed. "God, I can't believe I forgot that."

"You're fine! Just a bit forgetful." Kirigiri pulls me in and gives me a lingering kiss. Then she sort of looks at me. For no real reason. She's simply looking at me. She starts to play with my hair. This is... Different. Maybe not weird, but new. I've never seen her like this before. All sweet hearted and cutesy. She's alway been the quiet type, never showing any emotions. But, I like this.

"Not fair." She looks confused.

"What's not fair?"

"You've had way more experience in this relationship." She grins so warmly I can feel heat radiating off her. "I'm brand new to this."

"Technically, you've had the same amount of experience." She positions herself in a way so that she's half laying on the bed and half laying on me. "You just don't remember it."

"And how unfortunate that is. Any lost time with you is tragic for sure," I tell her this as I tighten her in a hug. "Maybe that's why I felt so drawn to you. I never really understood it."

"Gee, thanks, sweetheart."

"Hey, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." She kisses my cheek before getting out of bed, and I have to avert my eyes. "Makoto, after last night, you're allowed to look."

"I still feel weird about it..." I keep my eyes are averted to the left until she walks into view dressed in a robe.

"Wuss," she responds playfully. At least, I think it was playful. Or, I hope so. "Get up." Kirigiri throws my clothes at me then heads to the bathroom to shower. I sit upright and take in everything that has happened. This will take some getting used to.

* * *

Upon entering his apartment after a long day, he's greeted instantly by a familiar face.

"Welcome back, young master!" She grins and bows to someone who seems annoyed.

"I keep telling you not to call me that," Kuzuryuu sighs, shutting the door behind him. "Were you waiting for me all day again?"

"Of course I was. I serve you. That is all I do." He's heard this so many times at this point. At first he felt guilty, but now he was just annoyed.

"Peko, how about you go do something for a change?" He has suggested this several, several times, but her reply was always along the lines of...

"It's necessary for me to wait for you. After all, I must continue to remain by your side, as I have since we were children." Kuzuryuu walks over to the couch, intending to place his jacket on it, but Peko quickly takes it over to the closet and hangs it up. This also bugs him, but he doesn't say anything.

"Okay, but think about it like this: You obey my orders, yeah?" He leans against the back of the couch to face Peko, standing respectfully toward him.

"Correct. Any order you give me I will complete without hesitation."

"Well, what if I order you to go do something? Instead of waitin' inside all day?"

".... Then, I suppose I'd do that."

"There we have it," he cracks a smile, "So do something tomorrow, would ya?"

"Will do, young master," she says, slightly defeated.

"I don't exactly see your problem with not staying inside all day," he responds, moving over a table that holds a book he's reading. She stays in here place.

"Well, what if you're home before me?"

"Hey, Peko, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm a grown man, I can handle myself." She can't think of a comeback. He waits until she sighs and sits in a chair, then lets out a laugh, not being able to help himself.

"So, how has work been treating you?" Kuzuryuu falls silent. He wouldn't really consider it work. It's more of an obligation now. When he was first recruited by Junko, it seemed like a chance to be worth something. He brags his status, but he doesn't really live up to it. He usually had Peko do his dirty work. But he don't let anyone know that. It's not that he doesn't want to do anything vile, he just... Can't. He's always hated himself for that. He feels like such a fake. So maybe this gang could've made him how he was supposed to be.

"It's... been alright. I guess." He shrugs, hitting the book on his hand. "Enoshima has been really annoying lately, and we've been bickering a lot too."

"You know I can always get rid of her," Peko says casually. This irritates him.

"Yes, but I don't need your help for every single problem I have." He feels like she's being condescending. She isn't, really, but he's just angry. Peko isn't sure how to respond. He did speak harshly just now. "You don't need try to fix my life."

"Young master, that's my job. I am but your tool." He hates that phrase more than anything.

"Stop saying that! You're not a tool! You're a human _being_!" Peko sits silently, yet she looks intimidated. Upset from being yelled at. "Look, I'm–I'm going to bed." He storms off to his room angrily. Peko say words of protest, yet he acts like he couldn't hear her. No matter where he goes, he can never get a rest.

* * *

It's late into the night. The pair are walking back from their "date" of sorts. He refuses to call it one, since it goes against his own rules. Yet it's pretty clear what it really is.

She smiles to herself as they walk in silence. She had a wonderful time. He had been a complete gentleman, like usual. He took them to her favorite restaurant. He gave her his jacket when the breeze was a little too strong. Being alone with him is her favorite past time. She just wishes they could hold hands, at least once in a while.

She nonchalantly bumps her fingers against his hand, but he puts his hands in his pockets. He obviously felt the touch and was denying her. Maybe he just doesn't get the message. She tries to ignore this.

The silence isn't broken until they arrive to her apartment building.

"Thank you for tonight..." Celeste trails off, still smiling. Togami returns the gesture.

"Of course. Anytime." And with that, he walks off. He doesn't get very far before he's stopped.

"Hey! Um..." He turns to face her. "Byakuya... What exactly _is_ our relationship?" She can't help but want something more. She really cares for him. The way he acts around other people is completely different than with her. The way she believes he really is. For months and months she wanted to ask this, and she finally worked up the strength to do so. She's terrified of his answer.

"Celeste... We've talked about this before."

"No, we haven't." She resists the urge to yell and remains calm. "I've brought it up, but you've always dismissed it. I want to talk about it." He sighs. Celeste heart is beating at an unhealthy rate.

"Friends." She sinks. She knew what he was going to say, but just didn't want to believe it. A little part of her hoped she could hear what she wanted to. But things never work out that way. "Just friends. All we're ever going to be is just friends."

"But you can't deny that we've got something between us..." If she's going down, it's not without a fight.

"It doesn't matter. You know my rules about work relationships. I'd never do something as unprofessional as dating a co-worker." Celeste is getting desperate.

"But what if we weren't co-workers?

"That's what we are, so it doesn't matter. And unless you plan on quitting all a sudden, that's not going to change." He pauses for a moment, letting the silence eat away at Celeste. "I'm sorry."

She's left there in front of her apartment building, watching him walk away. The night was so wonderful. A simple sentence ruined the memory.

* * *

My sister won't open her door. She's been hiding out in her room for a while now. It's sort of my fault, but I don't really care. I bang on her door repeatedly, yet she doesn't open up. She groans and tells me to go away. She really is broken up about this, isn't she? I guess I hit some sensitive topics. She and Naegi were really serious. But honestly, why should I care? This is really stupid.

* * *

I'm done with all of this. I'm done with my life. I'm done with everything having to do with my life. I've had enough. I'm a decent guy. What did I do to deserve this? Maybe I just put myself around the wrong people. I don't know. No one will miss me. No one will be sad. Maybe Komaru and Chihiro, but they'll get over it. It's pretty obvious that the world would be better without someone like me ruining it. This isn't a suicide. It's me doing a favor.

The school building is pretty tall. I've already written letters to the few people who I care about, or who actually might care about me. I take a moment to think. I think of my friends. I think of my family. I think of all the pain I went through. All the pain I'm going through. I think of school. I'm failing geometry. I guess this one way to solve it. It's an hour or so after school got out. A few students are just leaving. Some of them like to stay back to study. Or commit suicide. Either or. This kinda thing is harder than it should be. Maybe there's some part of me that still wants to live. If so, I don't know where the hell it is or why it exists.

My toes are just off the edge of the roof. There's a faint breeze against my back. It's going the same way I am. I put out my foot over the edge then bring it back. My temptation is growing. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. This is it. It's not like I'm leaving anything behind. I have the people I love, but getting rid of me will be a favor to them. It might not seem like it right away, but they'll be glad I did. And finally...

"Please come back!" I maybe moved an inch before I heard someone yell at me. I turn around and see a girl in tears, her whole body trembling. "Please don't do this!" I just look at her. I don't know who she is and I'm kind of in the middle of something. "I-I'm Mukuro Ikusaba." She speaks shakily. "I'm in the same grade as you are. I've seen you around before. We share English together. And I don't know a lot about you, but I know you deserve to live! So please... _Please_ don't kill yourself!" I'm in shock. I'm standing here, on the edge of this building, staring at her. Here's this girl who doesn't even know me, and she's trying her best to save me. It's a sweet gesture, but...

"You don't understand. My life is really fucked up right now." I don't know why I'm bothering with her.

"Yes, right now! There will be a time when you're happier, trust me!" I roll my eyes. She's obviously never gone through anything to the extent of what I'm going through. Ignoring her, I lean over the edge in an attempt to fall off this time, but instead she screams and pulls me back. She's forcing me into a hug. I think she's trying to speak, but she's crying too much for me to understand. And I join her. I'm not exactly sure why. Soon, we're on our knees, sobbing and holding each other. I haven't cried in a long time. It feels nice. But I feel weird about clinging to this stranger and crying all over her within minutes of us meeting. She doesn't seem to care.

After a good period of time, we both finally got up. While I wiped my eyes, I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Kind of a glum way to start a friendship," I said, getting a little laugh from her as well. "I'm Makoto Naegi, by the way."

"It's nice to formally meet you, Makoto," She smiles at me, her face stained with tears.

"And uh...Thanks," I say half-heartedly. It's true that I still want to die, but she was really sweet about the whole thing. Instead of a response, she hugs me again. Afterward, she takes my hand and insists she walks me home. I think she's nervous that I was going to try something, and she wouldn't have been entirely wrong. Then she stays over almost all night (It's the weekend) and talks to me about anything and everything. She helps me get my mind off things. She's my new favorite distraction.

* * *

Kirigiri emerges from the bathroom, fully dressed, and I'm sitting in my work clothes on her bed, looking at one of the books that was on her nightstand.

"The Great Gatsby?" I skim through the pages while she brushes her hair.

"Yep! Came out last year. I found it downtown in little bookstore. It's really good. You should give it a read sometime. I hear that it's been really unsuccessful. The author thinks he's a failure. It's sad, really." Reading the first page, it's a little hard to keep up with, but it doesn't seem bad. "Honestly, it's probably my favorite book. It needs way more attention."

"In that case, I'll make sure to pick myself up a copy." We smile at one another.

"Actually, you can just borrow that one," she says as she continues to dry her hair off.

"But–" I showcase the bookmark halfway in the book to her. "You're still reading it."

"Oh no, I'm just rereading it..." She chuckles, and I can't help but smile. "I _really_ like this book."

"Well, then I'm honored you'd let me borrow it."

"Glad to hear it," she says with a little wink. She hangs her towel up and sits next to me, resting her wet head on my shoulder as I continue to look through the pages of Gatsby. "Hey, don't read that. It's a spoiler." She turns to a different page. "Oh, I just remembered this line I really liked, hold on." Kirigiri takes the book from my hands and searches for a certain page. "Here." On page 172, her fingernail runs under a line of text. "Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Didn't you write it in your journal?" She nods, staring down the page. "It's really pretty." Kirigiri makes a sound of acknowledgement, but I don't really think she's listening to me. She seems mesmerized by the page. This book really means something to her. It's her most prized possession. "Hey." I have to poke her cheek in order to get her attention. She pulls her eyes from the page and sees me laughing everso slightly.

"Oh, shush, it's a good book, okay?" She stands up and walks around the bed to put the book back on the other nightstand while I continue to laugh, only a little louder.

"Hey, no, come back!" I follow after her as she fake pouts. "I think it's cute!" She turns and looks down to me.

"You think I'm cute?"

"That's not what I said."

"It basically was." We're both grinning at each other now. She touches her nose to mine, hinting that she'll kiss me, but ends up walking away instead. "Well, if that's what you think, then I guess you can't kiss me."

"Kind of too late for that." Kirigiri sits down on the bed before she falls back on it. I decide to lay next to her.

"Just, shut up and kiss me again."

Who am I to say no?


End file.
